Thank you castle85 for the words of encouragement.
I hear you - I also wonder why I chose to do this. Even more so as I have no interest whatsoever in academia. Sending you strength for the last few weeks!

Thank you so much tr1992 - I am sorry you had to go through that. Your examiner definitely sounds like a dick! I find that it really is a strange process as so much of it ends up being linked to someone's subjective perception of your approach/data etc. The chair did say to me as she was walking me out of the room as they deliberated : "that was intense". I still am struggling with the fact that it felt unfair. I don't mind the major corrections and constructive criticism but I am struggling with the fact that they were absolute dicks. The second examiner is new to all of this so she kept just acquiescing to what the external examiner was saying. I think I will do what you have suggested and just let it all sink in for now and see what their feedback is. Really appreciate the advice! Best of luck with your corrections!

Hi everyone,
I have had a long and very challenging journey in my PhD due to my personal circumstances. I almost quit dozens of times. In the end, I persevered and submitted a thesis back in September of last year. It wasn't the greatest thesis and I definitely knew I was going to get some sort of corrections either minor or major as it was a rushed job. My supervisor never gave me a clear indication as to which way it would go but the week before my viva, he seemed pretty positive and told me I'm likely looking at minor corrections (in my uni major is not a pass - and you're given 12 months to resubmit).

I had my viva a few days ago and it was the hardest thing I have ever experienced. One of the examiners came 15 minutes late, didn't apologise, and started with an intense question. For 2 hours, the tempo kept being intense. The external examiner started by telling me " When I saw the title your thesis, I thought not again!". It really felt like they were trying to trip me up the entire time and I think the only positive comment I received was "we both thought this was an interesting topic" yet it seemed like the entire time they were questioning the validity of the topic itself. I found really strange was that out of the 200 questions that I had prepared (there is a list circulating on the internet) I only got four of those. In addition, they did not ask me questions about my actual findings/ specific chapters of my thesis - they just kept asking really vague theoretical questions not directly related to my thesis. In the end I got major corrections and have 12 months to resubmit. I am feeling quite disheartened. Due to their overall attitude I am really worried about trying to address their comments (which I am yet to receive) as it feels so subjective (they didn't like the topic to begin with). I know that my findings are valid and I know that my topic is interesting but what is the point if those who are evaluating me don't think so?
I am seriously considering quitting as I just don't know if I can do it anymore. I have work and family commitments and can't imagine spending more time this. I am not a crier and have spent the last week crying every single day because they made me feel like such a failure.

I did get it done. I submitted something just in time. I know I will very likely get major corrections but at least I didn't quite. I managed to write the concluding chapter (around 8000 words) in two days, so I guess anything is possible. Given my circumstances, I chose to submit a full draft that's not great which meant that I could not incorporate all of my supervisor's comments and suggestions (which he sent the week before submission!).
I feel for you. I think the best way to do it is to try and not think about the kids and get your partner to completely take over. They will be fine. My kids are just happy to have me back. Just hold on to the feeling that once you submit, you can finally breathe and the worst is behind you! Wishing you the best of luck!

Thanks, that's what I did in the end/

My submission deadline is in two days and I still have an unimaginable amount of work to do.
I have other commitments (including work and children) and have been stretched to the max to do this phd.
I also am not allowed to have any more extensions. As it stand right now, I still have to work on my final chapter, introduction, and review the whole thesis (my supervisor decided to give me hundreds of comments at the eleventh hour).
I don't really want to quit so close to the deadline but I just don't see how it will be possible for me to have a completed draft (not even a good one) before the deadline. Any advice or hearing from anyone that has been in a similar situation would be very appreciated.

thank you